Did I fry my alternator?
08-31-2008, 02:09 PM
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Did I fry my alternator? I'm almost positive I did. But I figured I'd ask you guys since I've only had my car a week. What I'm curious about is to whether there is a fuse, or fusible link I may have burnt up instead?
Backstory: Yesterday I went to work on my newly acquired 98 Trans Am. One of the repairs was to remove the broken A/C tensioner bolt from when the last owner did a cam install. I figured I would weld a nut onto the broken bolt, and twist it out. I did plan ahead though in that I disconnected the battery, and the PCM so I didn't fry those. I got everything put together, and it fired right up and ran like it did, only now a "Check Gauges" light popped on. My voltage was reading at about 11 volts.
So I must've fried the alternator. Unless is there something else I might have burnt? Thanks in advance.
Backstory: Yesterday I went to work on my newly acquired 98 Trans Am. One of the repairs was to remove the broken A/C tensioner bolt from when the last owner did a cam install. I figured I would weld a nut onto the broken bolt, and twist it out. I did plan ahead though in that I disconnected the battery, and the PCM so I didn't fry those. I got everything put together, and it fired right up and ran like it did, only now a "Check Gauges" light popped on. My voltage was reading at about 11 volts.
So I must've fried the alternator. Unless is there something else I might have burnt? Thanks in advance.
08-31-2008, 03:28 PM
#2
There is a plug on the alternator with one wire coming out of it, this is the exciter wire that starts the charging process. During start up the engine computer sends 10 to 12 volts to this terminal.
You can unplug this, start the car and check the voltage at the plug, should be 9.8 volts or higher. If theres no voltage you should ohm the wire from that plug to the pcm to make sure it's not broken. Since you have a '98 I don't know which wire it is at the pcm. I just did this test on my car, but the '98's are different.
This is one solid wire with no other connections.
You can unplug this, start the car and check the voltage at the plug, should be 9.8 volts or higher. If theres no voltage you should ohm the wire from that plug to the pcm to make sure it's not broken. Since you have a '98 I don't know which wire it is at the pcm. I just did this test on my car, but the '98's are different.
This is one solid wire with no other connections.
09-02-2008, 02:50 AM
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Thanks for the response. I had bought the alternator just in case there was nothing obvious while I have the car apart. I got the alternator dropped... and the single wire in the plug was NOT intact. It was broke of clean, didn't even look burnt. But I soldered it back in, and now everything works great!
